THE INDIAN STRIPED SQUIRREL 



(Scittnts palmarum) 



WHEREVER they occur, and they are found almost everywhere except in 

 the Australian region, the Squirrels are the most conspicuous of small 

 beasts, from their liveliness and diurnal habits, while their pretty 

 appearance and amusing ways give them a popularity denied to most 

 of their rodent relatives. The most familiar of all of them, where it 

 occurs, is the little Striped Squirrel of India, which lives the life of a 

 semi-domesticated animal about human habitations. It is considerably 

 smaller than our Squirrel, and, as the illustration shows, very differ- 

 ently coloured, and without the pretty ear-tufts which give such a 

 striking expression to the Red Squirrel. The colour varies somewhat 

 locally, some races being redder and less grey than the ordinary type, 

 and both black and white varieties have been recorded. Indeed, it 

 would be a remarkable thing if such were not the case, for the Squirrels 

 are remarkable not only for the brightness of their colours, but also 

 for the great tendency to variation they exhibit. 



Although this species is often called the Palm Squirrel, it has no 

 particular preference for palms, running up any tree that is handy. 

 It feeds to a great extent on the ground, and is, like so many rodents, 

 omnivorous, though chiefly a vegetable-feeder ; shoots, seeds, and so 

 forth, form its usual food, though it also eats some insects, and is 

 reputed to plunder birds' nests, although it lives on excellent terms 

 with the birds. Any scraps of human food, such as bread, which it 

 can find or steal in its ramblings about houses, it will appropriate 

 gladly, and it is difficult to keep it out of rooms when it has found 

 some such inducement for coming inside ; as for using harsh measures 

 to it, one is averse to such a course with such a pretty little animal, so 

 that, on the whole, it leads a privileged life. 



Its note is a shrill chatter, accompanied by a jerking up and 



18* 



